1977 Sep-Dec: Performed as an instrumental this time round, containing a Frank guitar solo and some outrageous O'Hearn bass playing. When it first rears its pointed little head, it essentially serves as the vamp for Frank's guitar solo during the "Pound for a Brown" extravaganzas. After several instances of this, the tune is separated from the Monster tune, and takes on its own identity, though still remaining an instrumental. The main theme as it is played on this tour—a short bass and guitar riff—can be briefly heard during the "Baby Snakes" movie. This main theme sets up the guitar solo, but is eventually lost as Frank and the rhythm section stake new musical territory. Upon finishing his solo, Frank and the band then return to this theme, before segueing into the next song. Some of the best guitar playing of the tour—and of the seventies—comes right here.
1978 Aug-Oct: Essentially performed as on "Saarbrucken" from Beat the Boots Volume I, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. Early in the tour—on 9/7—this tune receives Monster treatment with special guest Shankar inspiring Frank to let him, the keyboardists, and several other band members a chance to strut their stuff. During the Halloween show, this song recieves another extended workout as both Zappa and Shankar got a chance to solo. In my opinion, this is one of Frank's greatly underrated tunes, at least as it is performed on this tour. While the solos were no monsters, they were nevertheless consistently interesting, and had a particular flavor that I cannot seem to find in other solos. Sadly, the one official version we have of this tune—from "Saarbrucken"—has a nasty edit in the middle of the solo.
1979: Played at least three times—twice late in March, and later as an encore during the insane 4/1 show—and essentially performed as on the previous tour (see "Saarbrucken" from Beat the Boots Volume I). Frank takes his always-interesting-when-in-this-song guitar solo during the former performances, but delegates the duty to both Wolf and Mars for the latter performance, who serve up a subtle and very rare "Conehead" keyboard feast.
1980 Mar-Jul: Essentially performed as on YAWYI, allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in Tommy's short, "space invaders" keyboard solo. We do not get a Frank solo this time round. After the weird transition from the vocals into what is a solo on the album, Tommy keeps the weirdness up, and takes a short solo which sounds as if he is playing a video game. Very weird sound effects. Frank describes it during one show as "the soundtrack to Thomas Nordegg's bedroom". Huh? L Shankar makes a guest appearance at one show (5/10), and performs his little heart out during an extended version of this tune.
1980 Oct-Dec: Essentially performed as on YAWYI, with the standard deviation coming in the solo.
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